Fun Illustrations from the New York Times' Cutting Room Floor

Last weekend, the New York Times Magazine published its annual food issue. This time around, the contents were dedicated to communities and the idea that collaboration–eating together, growing together, and cooking together–is the driving force behind our modern food movement. Kim Severson interviewed a group of people in Albuquerque who regularly purchase a whole, slaughtered steer and split up the cuts of meat. Michael Pollan wrote about a 36-hour dinner party wherein a group of Bay Area chefs and home cooks built a single wood fire in a shady backyard in Napa and used it to roast, braise, bake, simmer and grill as many dishes as possible. And Amanda Hesser explained why editing the forthcoming Essential New York Times Cookbook made her believe in the power of crowd-sourced recipes. All of these stories are available online, and you should check them out.

Another great feature of The Food Issue was the cover–a clever series of Christoph Niemann illustrations whose missing elements are replaced by Tom Schierlitz‘s crisp food photography.

When NYT Magazine design director Arem Duplessis asked Niemann for a combo of drawings and photography, the duo went through a few ideas. Trying to turn a bunch of silverware into characters, for example, didn’t make the cut. Then they had the idea to use characters from the issue’s stories.
“I used my classic method of coming up with illustration concepts: lots of white paper, coffee, no music, desperation,” says Niemann.